Many boat owners have pontoon type boat lifts in their docks which can be inflated to raise their boat out of the water when not in use to eliminate the problems associated with storing a boat floating in the water. A typical boat lift is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,119, entitled "VERTICAL RISING BOAT LIFT", issued Feb. 7, 1978. These prior art boat lifts are generally controlled by a manual control mounted on the dock which requires someone on the dock to operate the lift while the boat is docking or undocking. If the boat is undocking, it is necessary for the lift to first be deflated to permit the boat to be floated out of the lift, and then re-inflated to prevent damage to the lift. After re-inflation, the boat has to return to the side of the dock to pick up the person who remained there to manually operate the on-dock control. Of course, the process must be reversed to dock the boat. This procedure is an inconvenience and entails some danger as a passing boat could cause waves which might slam the boat against the dock or cause the person being picked up to misstep and go overboard. This procedure is also inconvenient and detracts from the enjoyment of boating. However, these lifts are generally expensive and if left in the deflated condition, they can be damaged or sunk and lost by the current, backwash or other similar water condition. Nevertheless, because of the inconvenience, many boat owners do not bother re-inflating the lift and instead take the risk of loss or damage.
To solve these and other problems of the prior art, the inventor herein has succeeded in developing a remote control device which enables a boat operator to raise and/or lower the boat lift while he is in the boat and not on the dock. With the present invention, an operator can lower the boat lift, board the boat, back the boat out of the dock, and then remotely raise the boat lift while he is in the boat. As can be appreciated, this permits one-man operation without leaving the controls of the boat, and also eliminates the problem of returning to the dock to pick up the lift operator or, conversely, leaving the lift submerged and susceptible to damage or loss.
The radio controlled boat lift of the present invention generally comprises a transmitter device capable of generating one of two pre-determined RF signals, a pair of receivers each of which is tuned to one of the transmitted RF signals, electrical control circuitry connected to the receivers and a pressure pump with valves to operate the boat lift. Additionally, manual pushbutton or lever controls can be provided as was typically utilized in the prior art to permit operation from the dock without possession of the remote control.
In operation, the boat lift initially is up with the boat out of the water and supported by the lift. An operator may then manually operate the lift to lower it, or alternatively utilize the remote control transmitter to lower the lift and boat down into the water. The operator and any passengers may then board the boat and the boat may be launched. After clearing the dock area and before leaving, the operator may then operate the remote transmitter to generate the first RF signal which when received by the correct receiver raises the lift out of the water to store it in a floating position. As mentioned above, this prevents damage or loss to the boat lift.
Upon returning, the operator then utilizes the remote transmitter to generate the other predetermined RF signal which is received by the down receiver and which deflates the lift to lower it into a submerged position. Once submerged, the boat may then be maneuvered into position in the dock and over the boat lift. The passengers and operator may then disembark, and either the remote transmitter or the local manual control may be utilized to inflate the boat lift and raise the boat out of the water for storage, as desired.
The remote control boat lift control of this invention provides the user with a safe, convenient, and enjoyable way to operate a boat lift while eliminating the disadvantages that are associated with manual operation.